Electronic tags are used today to conduct various financial transactions. For instance, the Mobil® division of ExxonMobil Corporation developed a program called SPEEDPASS® whereby a customer can purchase gas and other goods and services by activating a system with a tag comprising a transponder, where the tag is associated with some source of the customer's funds which are used to pay for the purchase. The tag may be kept on a keyring, and is waved in front of a detector to activate the system.
Credit cards which have embedded electronic tags for purposes of making contactless payments are issued by various card issuers, including the VISA payWave™; MasterCard PayPass® and American Express ExpressPay™. Customers can “wave” their card containing the embedded electronic tag in front of a reader to make a purchase that is charged to that credit card. This approach results in significantly faster transactions than traditional purchase methods using magnetic stripe cards.
Another popular use of electronic tags is in Electronic Toll Collection (“ETC”) systems including E-Z PASS,® GEORGIA CRUISE CARD,® SUNPASS,® EPASS,® and FASTRAK,® among others, which allow a motorist to electronically charge a toll for using certain roadways without having to physically stop at a tollbooth to pay the toll. ETC systems are a part of the technology known as Intelligent Transportation Systems (“ITS”) fostered by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (“ITSA”), a society composed of private and public members which was mandated by the United States Congress in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (“ISTEA”) to coordinate the development and deployment of intelligent transportation systems in the United States. ETC systems enhance the safety, capacity, and efficiency of the tollway systems in this country, as well as improve customer service and satisfaction.
ETC systems operate when a sensor located at the tollbooth activates and/or detects tag identification information associated with the tag as the motorist passes through the tollbooth. Tag identification information may be contained in bar coded labels, or may be transmitted via an RF or IR or other type of transponder located in the tag, where the emitted signal is read by a reader/antenna located at the tollbooth. When the tag identification information is detected by a scanner or reader/antenna at a tollbooth, a prefunded account associated with that tag is debited the amount of the corresponding toll or charge.
Other uses of electronic tags today include tracking apparel; tracking packaged consumer goods; tracking currency; and tracking patients and personnel.
Many companies and organizations offer their customers and/or members a wide array of discounts, rebates, coupons, awards, prizes, extended warranties, insurance and other purchasing incentives through so-called “loyalty” or “rewards” programs, which terms are used interchangeably in this disclosure. These loyalty programs may range in complexity from a simple punch-card where a repeat customer receives a free item after purchasing some predetermined number of items, to multi-partner syndicated retail loyalty programs. Credits (or points) in loyalty programs can carry a great deal of value to the holder, and may even be donated as charitable items as, for example, donations of frequent flyer program miles to organizations as the Make-A-Wish Foundation™. The main objective of offering these loyalty programs is to increase customer retention and loyalty to the company or organization, while providing the offering company or organization marketing data on their consumer base.
Often, as a further incentive to loyalty program members who have reached a threshold amount of loyalty program credits through their purchases from a goods or service provider, the loyalty program sponsor may provide additional benefits (or “soft rewards”) to such a loyalty program member. For example, frequent flyer members may be rewarded with a “quick” line to pass through security and early boarding on an airplane, based on their achievement of a minimum number of miles in the frequent flyer program. Such “soft rewards” do not cost the loyalty program member any “points” or “credits” but allow the loyalty program sponsor to further encourage patronage by the loyalty program member with that sponsor.